Watch advertising and media CXOs humming for 'The Dhun Project'

A picture from the shoot.When Neeraj Vyas from Sony Pictures Networks (SPN) India approached Future Group’s Sandip Tarkas to be a part of Sony MIX’s new CSR activity, Tarkas agreed without thinking twice. Tarkas who has been practicing music since over a decade was touched by the concept proposed by the channel to him and a few others from the advertising and marketing fraternity.

The Hindi music channel from the network turned five yesterday and thought of rolling out an initiative to pay tribute to yesteryear’s musicians in India. The project also aims to raise funds to empower musicians and educate across levels.

Last year, Vyas and his team had collaborated with music artist Javed Ali for a show called ‘Music Room With Javed Ali’. Ali was seen rendering evergreen songs in every episode, while introducing musicians who worked on it. The idea of ‘The Dhun Project’ sprung from there, says Vyas.

“With the way music has changed with electronic sound, many talented artists have been forgotten. A lot of them are struggling to survive in the industry, and many others are struggling in life. Our idea is to re-discover these talented people. According to us, the CXOs from the advertising and media industry chosen for the project are influencers. They were the perfect fit for the project because they are brand custodians of large organisations and will surely help us spread a word about the cause,” adds Vyas.

Through the first leg of the activity, the channel will be contributing Rs.10 lakhs towards helping a musician who needs medical support. Ketto.org, a crowdsourcing platform co-founded by actor Kunal Kapoor will raise funds for SPIC MACAY to organise a series of events across the country that will enable these musicians to perform in schools and colleges.

Watch the video here:

While some agency heads admitted to their performances have been enhanced in the studio, many of advertising’s CXOs are imminently capable of belting out a tune or two. Tarkas and Dabral have a great set of pipes but our favourite is still the GroupM party from several years ago in which Vikram Sakhuja (who was with the company at the time) belted out a very energetic rendition of the RD Burman classic Duniya Mein Logon Ko.